Military Convoy

Islamist fighters ambushed an Ethiopian military convoy, killing six soldiers and injuring 20 in the first known skirmish between the rival forces maneuvering for control in Somalia, witnesses said. Two Ethiopian trucks were destroyed by land mines before Islamist fighters opened fire on the convoy of more than 80 vehicles, witnesses told the Associated Press.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- A bomb struck a military convoy in restive northwest Pakistan on Sunday, killing at least 22 soldiers, officials said. A convoy of more than 40 vehicles was leaving the garrison town of Bannu for the troubled North Waziristan tribal region when an improvised explosive device exploded inside a truck at about 9 a.m., according to military officials. Ten vehicles were destroyed in the blast. The bomb was planted in a private truck that had been hired by the Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force under the command of the Pakistani army that regularly battles insurgents in the country's lawless northwestern tribal areas, said a security official who requested anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media.

The two men killed in a military convoy accident along Interstate 15 were identified Thursday as Marine Lance Cpl. Christopher Best, 20, of Springfield, Mo., and Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class David Sotelo, 22, of Murrieta. The two, both from the 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, were thrown from their military vehicle when it struck a guardrail Wednesday night. Two other Marines from the battalion were treated for injuries at a hospital and released, Marine Corps officials said.

A convoy of Libyan military vehicles carrying troops loyal to ousted leader Moammar Kadafi arrived late Monday in this desert town in central Niger, one of Libya's southern neighbors, military sources said. The convoy of between 200 and 250 Libyan military vehicles included officers from Libya's southern army battalions, said the French and Nigerien sources. It probably crossed from Libya into Algeria before entering Niger, they said. It was not immediately clear whether the convoy included any members of Kadafi's family or other high-level members of his government.

In another burst of pre-election violence, a suicide bomber targeted a Western military convoy today, killing at least seven people and wounding dozens more on a busy roadway. The Taliban claimed responsibility. Two U.S. soldiers, meanwhile, died in a separate roadside bombing in eastern Afghanistan, bringing the number of American military deaths in the country this month to 26. The car bombing, the second major strike by insurgents in four days in the capital, took place on the main road leading east out of Kabul, toward the city of Jalalabad.

The federal army released the president of Bosnia-Herzegovina on Sunday after holding him hostage for 24 hours to secure free passage for an armored column trapped in the center of Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital. The freeing of Muslim President Alija Izetbegovic and the movement of the tanks and armored vehicles from the city center momentarily eased the razor-sharp tensions that have gripped Sarajevo amid its worst violence since World War II.

June 11, 2004 | Shamim ur-Rahman and Paul Watson, Special to The Times

Gunmen killed a bystander and 10 members of Pakistan's security forces -- seven soldiers and three police officers -- Thursday when they ambushed a military convoy in an upscale district of this volatile port city. The apparent target of the attack, Lt. Gen. Ahsan Saleem Hayat, commander of the Pakistani army's 5th Corps, suffered some injuries, according to reports quoting witnesses. But military officials said Hayat was unharmed and was not in his car when militants ambushed his convoy.

Western troops traveling through the capital of Afghanistan in a military convoy Thursday shot dead an Islamic cleric, apparently mistaking him for a would-be suicide bomber, officials and witnesses said. NATO acknowledged that its forces had fired on what appeared to be a "threatening vehicle," and expressed regret for the death. Afghan police said two of the cleric's children were in the car with him but were not hurt. The incident took place hours before Afghan President Hamid Karzai, speaking to a major security conference in London, urged that greater care be taken when foreign troops come in contact with civilians.

A white Chevy Suburban with bullet holes in the windshield veered menacingly toward the Marine convoy rumbling down a sleepy country road. Capt. Jer Garcia got a look at the driver's eyes. "I knew instantly that this was not right and he was going to do something bad," Garcia, the company commander, recalled Wednesday. But there was no time to react. The suicide vehicle plowed into a seven-ton truck ferrying 18 Marines from Bravo Company of the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment.

Suspected Islamic rebels attacked a military convoy in the Indian-held portion of Kashmir, killing five soldiers and wounding three others. The attack on a highway linking the cities of Srinagar and Jammu came as the military convoy passed through the town of Awantipora. A Pakistani-based militant group claimed responsibility in a telephone call to a news agency.

The Taliban on Saturday declared the start of a spring offensive in Afghanistan, warning that insurgents plan to attack foreign troops, Afghan security forces and government officials in coming days. In a statement, the Taliban warned civilians to avoid public gatherings, military bases and convoys, as well as government buildings. "All Afghan people should bear in mind to keep away from gatherings, convoys and centers of the enemy so that they will not become harmed during attacks of mujahedin against the enemy," the statement said.

Western troops traveling through the capital of Afghanistan in a military convoy Thursday shot dead an Islamic cleric, apparently mistaking him for a would-be suicide bomber, officials and witnesses said. NATO acknowledged that its forces had fired on what appeared to be a "threatening vehicle," and expressed regret for the death. Afghan police said two of the cleric's children were in the car with him but were not hurt. The incident took place hours before Afghan President Hamid Karzai, speaking to a major security conference in London, urged that greater care be taken when foreign troops come in contact with civilians.

Authorities on Friday were investigating whether a blast that hit a crowded marketplace in western Afghanistan was aimed at a provincial governor considered friendly to the United States. A suicide bomber rode a motorcycle into a crowded marketplace in the city of Farah, capital of Farah province, and set off his explosives, killing 16 other people and injuring about two dozen others. At least two children were among the dead and several were injured, hospital officials said.

A car bomb hit an Italian military convoy on the main airport road near the U.S. Embassy in Kabul on Thursday, killing at least six soldiers and 10 Afghan civilians, Italian and Afghan government officials said. The bombing, which wounded at least 52 people, was the latest in a string of attacks and showed militants' ability to hit most corners of the troubled country at will. It was the fourth major blast in the capital in five weeks. Afghanistan's Aug. 20 presidential election remains undecided as authorities attempt to sort out hundreds of allegations of fraud.

In another burst of pre-election violence, a suicide bomber targeted a Western military convoy today, killing at least seven people and wounding dozens more on a busy roadway. The Taliban claimed responsibility. Two U.S. soldiers, meanwhile, died in a separate roadside bombing in eastern Afghanistan, bringing the number of American military deaths in the country this month to 26. The car bombing, the second major strike by insurgents in four days in the capital, took place on the main road leading east out of Kabul, toward the city of Jalalabad.

A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-rigged car into a military convoy, killing three U.S. soldiers and three civilians in eastern Afghanistan. The attack against the American convoy came in Kapisa province, an stronghold of insurgents loyal to the Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. The soldiers killed in the blast served with NATO's International Security Assistance Force. Taliban fighters regularly use suicide attacks and roadside bombs in assaults on foreign and Afghan troops.

Rebels fighting the Marxist government attacked a 17-truck commercial convoy in northern Ethiopia, destroying seven trucks carrying 170 tons of relief food for drought victims in Eritrea and Tigre provinces, relief and diplomatic officials said. The Eritrean People's Liberation Front claimed responsibility for the attack but said the vehicles were part of a military convoy.

A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-rigged car into a military convoy, killing three U.S. soldiers and three civilians in eastern Afghanistan. The attack against the American convoy came in Kapisa province, an stronghold of insurgents loyal to the Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. The soldiers killed in the blast served with NATO's International Security Assistance Force. Taliban fighters regularly use suicide attacks and roadside bombs in assaults on foreign and Afghan troops.

Hundreds of angry Afghans chanted anti-U.S. slogans as they protested the deaths of nine policemen who officials said were killed during an anti-Taliban operation by U.S.-led coalition troops. The officers, including a district police chief, died in Ghazni province during an operation that included U.S. ground forces and airstrikes, said a provincial official, Habibur Rahman. Two civilians also died, he said. The U.S.-led coalition denied that it had killed the policemen. It said its forces killed "several insurgents" and detained nine others during the operation.

Islamist fighters ambushed an Ethiopian military convoy, killing six soldiers and injuring 20 in the first known skirmish between the rival forces maneuvering for control in Somalia, witnesses said. Two Ethiopian trucks were destroyed by land mines before Islamist fighters opened fire on the convoy of more than 80 vehicles, witnesses told the Associated Press.